Peters



J. SHAFFER. Manufacture of Harness-Loops.

No.'226,oo4 l Patented Mar. 30,1380.

N FEI'ERS. H IQTD-LITHDGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D. c.

Ivo

IINiTED STATES "A'rnNr Ottica.

JOSEPH SHAFFER, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO JACOB A.. FRITZ, OF SAME PLAGE.

IVIANUFACTURE OF HARNESS-LOUPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 226,004, dated March 30, 1880. Appneanon filed June es, 1879. A

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOSEPH SHAFFER, of Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State 0f Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the llIanufacture of HarnessLoops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of th'e same.

My invention relates to an improvement in the construction of crimped or corrugated concavo-con'vex loops for harness, and also in the process and machinery7 for producing the same.

Hitherto crimped or corrugated loops for harness have been made by securing or pasting a comparatively thin sheet of finished leather overa base-piece either of leather, wood, or metal, previously shaped to give the required ornamental form, and having the transverse gutters or ridges formed by cutting or otherwise.

The objection to these loops so constructed, aside from the cost and care required in fitting the finishing leather upon the base-piece, is the liability of the exterior finishing-leather to come off or wear through, and thus render the article unsightly.

The novelty of my invention consists in subjecting a moistened piece of leather of the required thickness of the loop to the action of an elastic expansible mandrel in a concave die having transverse gutters and ridges so shaped and located *as to give the requisite ornamentation and configuration.

It also consists in the combination, with a concave die having depressions and ridges, of an expansible mandrel actuated by suitable pressure, whereby sheets or pieces of moistened leather may be separately pressed or swaged in the die to give them a concavoconvex form with suitable ornamentation, such as transverse corrugations, all as will be herewith set forth and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the die. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation through the line mof Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a harness-loop as constructed by my improved process.

A, Fig. 1, represents a solid block of metal having' la longitudinal concavity in its upper As shown in Fig. 1, the concavity is not smooth, but is crossed transversely by ridges and indentations, which give to the leather to be pressed therein a corresponding shape and ornamental nish, as seen in Fig. 3.

The style of ornamentation may be varied infinitely to suit the character of the loop; and to enable the same die to produce different contgurations and ornamentations eXtra metal bands of various shapes and sizes, such as represented by O, Fig. 1, may be removably fastened, by screws or other suitable means, in the concavity.

The hat piece ot' leather D, of the required thickness, which is to be shaped and ornamented, is rst thoroughly moi stened to render it pliant and soft. It is then bent and placed in the concavity, as shown in Fig. 2. The mandrel E, Fig. 2, is then inserted between the folds of the leather, and is pressed by the hand into the concavity. It is necessary that this mandrel should be eXpansible under pressure, in order to force the leather out into the creases and depressions of the die; and to this end I preferably construct it of stiff though elastic rubber, of a single piece, and having its under portion shaped to lit somewhat loosely in the die.

With this mandrel inserted as above described, the whole is placed in any suitable press, which forces the mandrel down into the die, and as the mandrel is expansible, it is forced out laterally as well as downwardly, and thus presses the nioistened pliant leather into all the indentations or depressions .of the die. The die and its contents are left in the press until the leather is sufficiently dried and set to retain its new shape, when the pressure is removed andthe leather is taken out tinished, as seen in Fig. 3. The plain ends a IOO may then be eith'er cut oft' or left to furnish means for attaching the article thus formed to harness.

A number of loops may be pressed at one operation, and this number is only limited by the number of dies and the size of the press.

By thus pressing' the loop to the required shape, and giving it its ornamentation at the same operation, a `creat saving of time and labor is accomplished, and a much more durable article is produced.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claiml. The herein-described process of manufacturing loops for harness, by first moistening the leather and subjecting it then to the pressure of an elastic mandrel in a die, as set forth.

2. The combination, with a concave die having,` ornamenting` ridges or depressions, of an elastic mandrel, whereby moistened pieces of zo 

